A Not so Mini-Mester

GDS’s High School Minimster offers students a unique opportunity to learn about new and varied subjects as they step away from regular classes for three days to engage in a more direct, experiential approach to learning. The subjects of study, based on the passions and expertise of the faculty and staff at GDS often take students far afield from their conventional curriculum and school-related activities.

This year, high school students selected from 32 different courses, including reproductive justice, making comics, the sport of curling—even a native landscaping/camping adventure. Thirteen new courses made their debut in addition to those that have proven to be impactful learning experiences and/or favorites with students. Many of these have been honed and modified over time. 

Among the tried and true, is “A View From the Other Side,” organized by History teachers Lisa Rauschart and Sue Ikenberry. For their course, the teachers took the students on a field trip to Messiah University, a private Christian University in Pennsylvania, to expose them to views and perspectives they were less familiar with, in line with the GDS mission to develop empathetic, informed citizens who honor the integrity and worth of each individual.

“Both of us were concerned by the numbers of students who reported feeling shut down by many of their peers (and some adults) because they disagreed in part or whole with ideas, policies, and practices being advocated by the majority,” said Lisa and Sue about why they created their Minimester course. At the same time, they were also worried about the students who found it easy to demonstrate that they were on the ‘right side’ without really thinking deeply about issues, ideas, or the people involved. They hoped exposing students to more points of view could help them to move beyond their assumptions.

“We started to think about the ways we could craft an experience for our students that would get them to understand and appreciate some views from the other side—and the individuals behind them,” they said.

In describing the course experience, Lisa said, “The experience of working with a professor and students who are very different in their religious beliefs than GDS students was interesting and revealing. Students learned a bit more about the distinctions in Christianity that many don’t know much about, but which are important for understanding the way such beliefs impact political thought.”

John Fea, a Professor of American History and Chair of the History Department at Messiah wrote about GDS’s visit in a blog entry in which he said: “The GDS students were smart, civil, and respectful. We need more of these kinds of face-to-face interactions in America right now.” 

Michelle McKeever, the Associate Director of Community Engagement and Experiential Learning (CEEL) who spearheads the Minimester program at GDS also pointed to two other courses that have formed the backbone of Minimester over the years, including “Art Behind the Scenes,” led by High School Art teachers Mark Giaimo and Sarah Riley, and Art teacher and Department Chair Michelle Cobb, in which students learn about what it means to be a museum curator with visits to museums in New York and DC, and the ever-popular overnight camping adventure.

In its second year, “Passion to Profit” is building a following, said Michelle. “Students explore boutique fitness businesses and restaurants around the DMV, meeting with entrepreneurs and owners and then develop their own business plan based on what they’ve learned. I talked with some students and they mentioned how much the experience felt like real life—they got a sample of what they might do as adults.”

Ahren Sidhu '27 attended the “Sole to Sole’d” Minimester led by Assistant Principal for Academics and High School English Teacher Khalid Bashir and High School Counselor Pryndall White, in which he traveled to New York to meet with a shoe designer and social media manager at a FootLocker shoe store. “It was a fun opportunity to experience how people design shoes, and it gave me a greater appreciation of clothing, retail, and sneakers,” said Ahren.

“I had such a great time during the filmmaking Minimester!” Lulu Wachs '27 said of the course she took entitled “Ready! Set! Action! A 72-Hour Filmmaking Challenge” led by High School Theater Director Janos Szász and High School Office Manager David Sarpal. “Although I didn’t have any prior experience with filmmaking, David and Janos taught me all of the important basics, and I learned so much. I am so grateful that GDS gives us opportunities like this to have a break from academics and learn about something new.”

Michelle said that this year, she witnessed many teachers diving into some new areas of interest, some in direct response to student feedback. 

One of these was “Go Y2K in PA,” a limited tech retreat in Lancaster, Pennsylvania led by High School Health and Wellness Teacher and Health Education Department Chair Caitlin Hutcheon, High School Latin Teacher Abigail Lund, and Associate Director of College Counseling Shawn Miller. “The idea was to recreate what it was like to live around the time of Y2K, to experience what it was like to live with just the technology we had then,” said Michelle. “Students watched movies on DVD players and listened to CDs on a boombox; it wasn’t entirely tech-free but it was phone-free.”

Students also met members of the Amish community in an effort to better understand what life is like with even more limits on technology.

 “It was an experience where they really stepped away from modern tech for a bit. They absolutely loved it. I was initially surprised at how many students wanted to do this for three days,” said Michelle, noting that perhaps the recent influence of going phone-free during school hours may have positively influenced the students in choosing the course. 

When looking to the future of Minimester, Michelle said she really wants to get more student engagement in the design of many of the courses. “Right now it's almost exclusively faculty-led, and we ask students for feedback. As our [CEEL] team has recently expanded, I would love to be able to build it out a little bit more. I think the students could be really involved in designing Minimester with their teachers, and that in itself could be a really enlightening experience.”

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